Have you ever stumbled upon one of our collections that just looks a little too…sparse on the details? This post aims to discuss what happens when you find a collection that hasn’t been described in detail yet, like the Albert Fuller Papers pictured to the right. If you have spent time looking through the Becker [Read more]
What does multiple awards-winning video game Baldur’s Gate 3 have in common with Becker Medical Library’s rare books collections? In Baldur’s Gate, players can collect plants and monster parts, which are then refined and used in potions that give special effects in the game. This mechanic mirrors the real-life practice of gathering plants and animal [Read more]
If you hear the word dracunculus in a vacuum, chances are you’ll think of dragons. The frontispiece to the 1674 edition of Georg Hieronymus Welsch’s Exercitatio de Vena Medinensi certainly supports that association. Sitting next to the two Greco-Roman deities Diana and Mercury (identifiable by their shield and staff, respectively) is a dragon, which acts [Read more]
The Olympic Games are a celebration of athleticism and physical skill, traits prized by the Ancient Greeks. But what did the people of antiquity think of fitness and exercise? These topics are explored in De Arte Gymnastica, one of the earliest books on exercise and physical therapy. De Arte Gymnastica was first published in 1569 [Read more]
Using archival records to determine if a friendship between two women was something more is challenging. At first glance, the records are rather ambiguous, perhaps intentionally so. What can we learn if we look closer?
Did you know the PC was invented at Washington University? Well, not that PC. The Programmed Console. In the spring of 1965, Jerome R. Cox Jr. and Wesley A. Clark co-taught a graduate course in computer design in which teams of students designed working computers. One student, V.W. “Bill” Gerth, also wrote an interactive radiation [Read more]
Part 1 covers a few of the people associated with Washington University who played a part in the building of the atomic bomb with reference to the 2023 film Oppenheimer. Part 2 focuses on the part Arthur Holly Compton played in Robert J. Oppenheimer’s life and as inspiration for the movie. There are spoilers for [Read more]
To encourage researchers living more than 100 miles from St. Louis to use these collections, Becker Library offers two grants annually of up to $1,000 each to help defray the costs of travel, lodging, food and photo reproductions. Covered expenses will be reimbursed at the conclusion of the visit. Apply by Sept. 1, 2024.
When St. Louisans hear the name Barnes today, the century-old Barnes Hospital (now Barnes-Jewish Hospital) on Washington University’s medical campus might come to mind. But, before Barnes Hospital came into existence in 1914, St. Louisans would have known Barnes to be the largest medical school in downtown St. Louis.
Last month, the Center for the History of Medicine at Becker Library once again sponsored a spring break trip to Europe for Phase I medical students. While last year’s trip went to northern Italy to explore the origins of dissection in European medicine, this year focused on the medical legacy of the Dutch Golden Age [Read more]